Hockey Canada announced the final roster of the World Junior team which included 2 Manitoban born players. Selected were Nigel Dawes and Derek Meech.

Both Winnipeg born players currently play in the Western Hockey League for Kootenay and Red Deer respectively. A third Manitoban Ian White was not selected. A very disappointed White who was a key member of the 2003 World Junior Silver Medallists was released due to injury that has limited his participation in the selection camp and prevented him from playing with his Swift Current club team for nearly 2 months. If it were not for the injury the Toronto Maple Leaf draft pick and veteran World Junior returnee would certainly have been a very strong addition to the young squad. Two other Manitobans who attended the camp but were released earlier in the selection camp included Eric Fehr and Corey Courchene who both play for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL.

The only other time Manitoba had more than 2 players picked was in 1982 when 3 players were selected to the World Junior team by Dave King who choose James Patrick, Carey Wilson and Bruce Eakin to represent Canada. Canada captured the Gold Medal that year and all 3 players went on to play in the National Hockey League. James Patrick remains an active member of the Buffalo Sabres while Carey Wilson enjoyed a productive 10 year NHL career and Bruce Eakin played parts of several seasons for the Calgary Flames and Detroit organizations before moved to Europe for a stellar 9 year career.

The following is the press release issue by Hockey Canada today.

HOCKEY CANADA

RELEASE

December 16, 2003

FINAL ROSTER FOR CANADA’S NATIONAL JUNIOR TEAM NAMED FOR 2004 IIHF WORLD JUNIOR HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP

KITCHENER, ON –Canada’s National Junior Team roster of twenty-two (22) players was named by Head Coach Mario Durocher on Tuesday, for the 2004 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship from December 26, 2003 to January 6, 2003 in Helsinki and Hameenlinna, Finland.

Canada’s roster breaks down as follows:

Seven (7) players from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), including one player (Brent Burns) currently on loan from the NHL’s Minnesota Wild;
Ten (10) players from the Western Hockey League (WHL);
Four (4) players from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), including one player (Marc-André Fleury) currently on loan from the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins;
One (1) player from US College

Two players (Marc-André Fleury, Daniel Paillé) are returning players to Team Canada’s roster, having captured a silver medal at the 2003 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship. Nineteen (19) of the twenty-two players have had international experience with Canada’s National Under-18 Program (Summer/World Championship). Nineteen (19) players have also played in the Program of Excellence as members of one of Canada’s five regional Under-17 teams.

Head coach Mario Durocher also announced that Daniel Paillé (Welland, ON/Guelph, OHL), will be the team’s captain. Assistant captains will be Tim Brent (Cambridge, ON/ Toronto St. Michael’s, OHL) and Maxime Talbot (St-Bruno, QC/ Gatineau, QMJHL).

Canada’s National Junior Team will continue it’s preparation in Kitchener for two days, departing for Finland on December 18th. The team will be holding its pre-competition camp in Kisakallion, Finland from December 18-24. Canada will play two international exhibition games: on December 21st vs. Sweden (3:30 pm Local – 8:30 am Eastern) in Marsta, Sweden and on December 23rd vs. Austria (6:30 pm Local – 12:30 pm Eastern) in Riihimaki, Finland. For complete pre-competition camp schedules for Kitchener and Finland, visit www.hockeycanada.ca

Check out www.hockeycanada.ca for the latest information on Canada’s team at the 2004 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.